Barnes & Noble will host Vincent “Buddy” Cianci for a book signing for his paperback version of “POLITICS and PASTA,” Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Warwick Centre location, 1350 Bald Hill Road, Warwick.

Rogue? Or a tough, no-nonsense politician who got things done? Guy who pushed the envelope? Or a mayor who pushed his dying city to reach for the stars? Vincent “Buddy” Cianci had little gray area in his career as mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. Those who loved him worshipped the ground he walked on. Those who loathed him, well…

A lot has been written about Buddy – the good and the bad – but never before has it been written by Buddy. Along with co-writer David Fisher, Cianci pens a memorable, one-of-a-kind political memoir that will have readers laughing and pounding their fists cheering for Buddy to take the fight to his adversaries yet again with “POLITICS AND PASTA: How I Prosecuted Mobsters, Rebuilt a Dying City, Dined with Sinatra, Spent Five Years in a Federally Funded Gated Community, and Lived to Tell the Tale.”

Cianci is colorful. He was the subject of a best-selling book, an Emmy Award-winning documentary, and the creator of Mayor’s Own Marinara sauce. Since first being elected mayor in 1975 – serving until 1984 – Buddy Cianci became the epitome of the underdog beating the odds. Including his second stint as mayor, 1991-2002, Cianci was the longest serving mayor in Providence history and one of the longest serving “big city” mayors in U.S. history with more than 21 years under his belt.